Apalling driving, or just me?

[Gwilo]

Sort of a foil to paul's (pbirkett) thread on his temporarliy lapse of driving ability the other day......

In the last 18 hours I have seen:

An HGV lunge out into oncoming traffic in an attempt to overtake parked cars - I was at the head of that oncoming traffic, had started the same manouvre a good twenty yards previous and had no where to go except slam on to save my car/gorgeous face from damage. Loon.

A Mazda 323F been driven by a man clearly possessed and/or on drugs. He was slicing up the rush hour traffic down a dual carriageway like his pants were on fire, barely leaving anyone any distance to react before he carved his way through them. Sheer volume of traffic slowed him down and upon catching up with him, have a guess at what was occupying almost a quarter of his rear window? That right - a "baby on board" sticker. Call me cynical, but somone who drives like he did clearly has no regard for the safety of himself and other road users, let alone an infant.

ALL BRISKODIANS PLEASE NOTE: A "BABY ON BOARD" STICKER WILL NOT GRANT YOU IMMORTALITY AND A LICENSE TO DRIVE LIKE A TSSR. AND I WILL HATE YOU.......

My final road injustice that made me boil over this morning was a young lass in a Fiesta Zetec.

Now I understand women like to look their best. Men appreciate it and we have been known to preen ourselves behind the wheel occassionally (I've seen phillishave moments behind the wheel before now!!).

I have no problem with the quick check of makeup/hair in the mirror, or even a touch of lippy while parked at recently-gone-to-red traffic lights.

But to sit, as this probably otherwise faultless woman did, continously flicking and stroking her hair to ensure it fell in that "just-so" manner even after the lights went green and THEN went on to start putting on her lippy and the powdery stuff over the face (dunno the technical term...anyone?) while driving in rush hour..... :eek: :eek: :eek:

If anyone of the people in here ends up with me behind them, and does anyone of these what should be true motoring offenses, heaven help you.....

[robmawer]

Call me cynical, but somone who drives like he did clearly has no regard for the safety of himself and other road users, let alone an infant.

Nonono, you've got it all wrong - the "Baby on Board" sticker is there purely to alert emergency services, in the event of an accident, to the fact that there is a baby in the vehicle. So to get best value for your money from it, you need to have as many accidents as you can...

If anyone of the people in here ends up with me behind them, and does anyone of these what should be true motoring offenses, heaven help you.....

I followed a woman in a Fiesta yesterday for 20 minutes in a queue of traffic with her rear wiper on constantly (ie. not intermittent). It wasn't even raining, and I could hear the rubber squeaking across the glass, but somehow she was oblivious to this! :eek:

Rob.

[ScoobyChris]

Not just you - I think a lot of people seem to have the "Friday feeling" today and switch off when they're behind the wheel.

Chris

[Ant]

Got nicely wound up last night by someone tailgating me. Busy dual carriageway, doing 68mph in the overtaking lane, solid line of cars to my left that we are making slow progress past, and the obligatory 2 seconds behind the car in front. Car behind is inching slowly closer, then flashes his lights - obviously wants to come past. My response? Do nothing - where am I supposed to go? He repeated this until the next roundabout, where I turned right. The really annoying thing about this? It was a traffic Police car! If I'd done that to someone while he was watching, I'd have got a ticket. Made me determined not to move! Was tempted to flash my rear fogs at him, but couldn't be *rsed with the ensuing argument on the hard shoulder!

[robmawer]

obviously wants to come past. My response? Do nothing - ...was a traffic Police car!

So it's quite possible there was a good reason for him wanting to get past you? :rubchin:

Rob.

[Ant]

So it's quite possible there was a good reason for him wanting to get past you? :rubchin:

Rob.

Yeah, like he wanted to get back to the station to go off shift, or an important meeting with a doughnut saleman... If he'd NEEDED to get past, he would have put his blues & twos on.... He was just throwing his weight around, and it wasn't going to wash. Was very tempted to report him for driving without due consideration to other road users....

[robmawer]

If he'd NEEDED to get past, he would have put his blues & twos on....

Not necessarily, and there is no requirement for them to do this when they are answering a call.

Rob.

[ScoobyChris]

Not necessarily, and there is no requirement for them to do this when they are answering a call.

Well, there is that, but in rush hour traffic, I suspect they would have done! Don't traffic cars have permanent rolling video, or do they only record when the officers turn them on?

Chris

[Ant]

If he was answering a call, then a quick flash of blue lights would have done the trick. Obviously wasn't in a real rush, otherwise he would have done. Believe me, without doing that, he was going nowhere - both lanes were solid. So whats the point of hassling me? Because he can! Would love to see the video if it was rolling - I'd like to see him justify his aggressive driving...

[robmawer]

Well, there is that, but in rush hour traffic, I suspect they would have done!

But if they were doing a "stealthy" pursuit of a car further up the queue of traffic, then they wouldn't. IMHO, if a police car asks you to move out of the way, you should...you don't know if they're attending an important call or not, and you'll never find out, so it would be best to assume they are...

Rob.

[ScoobyChris]

But if they were doing a "stealthy" pursuit of a car further up the queue of traffic, then they wouldn't. IMHO, if a police car asks you to move out of the way, you should...you don't know if they're attending an important call or not, and you'll never find out, so it would be best to assume they are...

Very true - I always tend to move out of the way of traffic cars as they can't pursue you if you're behind them

Chris

[KentStu]

All very admirable Rob ... but how the hell are you supposed to be able to tell its a police car when its night-time and they have their lights on? :confused:

[robmawer]

All very admirable Rob ... but how the hell are you supposed to be able to tell its a police car when its night-time and they have their lights on? :confused:

Most of them have shiny "police" letters on the front...most round here do anyway, and these are usually quite visible off the reflection from the rear lights...

Generally I tend to move over as soon as possible if someone flashes me anyway...when the boot's on the other foot it's always annoying when someone holds you up. Do unto others, etc.

Rob.

[Ant]

Generally I tend to move over as soon as possible if someone flashes me anyway...when the boot's on the other foot it's always annoying when someone holds you up. Do unto others' date=' etc.

Rob.[/quote']

The only time I get flashed is when the person behind is completely ignorant of the road conditions - if the lane to my left is clear, I will be in it. If not, I wont. The number of times I've been flashed while patiently sitting in a queue of cars overtaking slower moving traffic, only to find the impatient 4rse vanishing rapidly BACKWARDS when the slower moving cars have got out of the way. If you are able to pull (safely) to the left when flashed, then you shouldn't have been in the way in the first place

If the copper in question was trying to do a stealth pursuit, then he would have lost the guy he was after - just too much traffic for that! He was driving aggressively, end of story. If I'd piled on the brakes, there was no way he would have avoided my boot. He was WAY TOO CLOSE - and there is no excuse for that.

[flyingscot]

Not just you - I think a lot of people seem to have the "Friday feeling" today and switch off when they're behind the wheel.

Chris

Not doesn't matter which day it is. I travelled through Glasgow City Centre, and pulled up behind a taxi at a set of traffic lights as did everybody else. Traffic Lights go to green taxi simply puts on his hazards. He wasn't broken down as the car could move. No passengers getting on, or anything but he stopped in lane 4 when their was an inshot to his right He moved eventually as I kept on my horn till he pulled in to the inshot. I had no choice trying to fight accross Glasgows main road....

Not to mention the guy that had run out of fuel, and parked his car right at the bit where it was a single carraigeway right at the speed limit change despite the fact there was a hatched bit 50 yards back! That was dangerous esp, in the heavy rain.

Not to mention the woman who pulled out at me on the Motorway doing 40 mph when I was in the inside lane at 60mph. The police were there however and weren't impressed by that. Or the guy who came zooming out of his space in TEsco yesterday in the wrong direction and ended up facing me. Pity I was going the right way and you weren't eh? You can reverse back in and let me past... That was all in one day... Maybe the rain brings them out....

I could mention the woman who pulled up infront of me at the roundabout- pity the traffic lights were green on it as every just about piled into the back of her, me a bus, a FedEx van...

I have had a similar situation to yours where a women who stopped at the roundabout, traffic goes, she sits and sits, queue forms, I get out drive around here shes doing her make-up.

[ScoobyChris]

Colin you're obviously just a magnet for trouble

Chris

[matchmaker]

Not doesn't matter which day it is.

I had a woman in an Audi 80 reverse out of a parking space at Tescos straight into my car. Bang! :eek: Then without a backward glance she drove off.

Unfortunately for her I was driving a Volvo 740.

The Volvo won - big time

[flyingscot]

Colin you're obviously just a magnet for trouble

Chris

Yeah Chris I think I am! I know the roads around here too well, I know which lane turns left at what point, what lane works out to be in the inside lane, and too many don't thats when the problem starts. That taxi driver took the p*ss mind you. I kind of sat on the horn till I shamed him to move. Well it was near the pedestrian roads in the city centre and everybody was looking at him holding up a big queue I have a cold at the moment to my temper is slightly shorter than usual!

[ColinD]

umm, en route back from scoty land had a BM close me down...now this is typical can't see squat weather but still making good progress, a bit to fast till we encountered some traffic hence BM caught us all up...he flashed. I'm thinking I could move but there is no where to go till matey 4 cars up pulls over so I sat there and moved closer to the two lorry spray fest...another flash, thats it, going nowhere now. I'm just as much in a rush as you are pal to clear these lorrys only 2car lenghts to go...

Pass lorrys speed returns to crusing from 60, remaped octy's are not slow in this range BM is way back...I duly move to inside...traffic ahead so move out. At this point m-way takes slow arc to the right...more traffic centre, indicate right BM still a good 6-9 lengths back and not alot making any real ground...move as I move I notice the dim glow of indicators in the misty spray, yup stationary...now bridging the lanes but moving to out side BM goes to full beam and accels as I'm lifting during that whats the dim glow of indicators moment for about a second before stomping on my brakes...to staionary.

Now I could of moved on the first flash but there was nowhere to go in any hurry and I moved asap once past lorrys I was waiting my bloody turn.

The fact he was not pushing me as I passed and moved to inside, in fact he was dropping back, issue dealth with. So as I enconter the staionary I know BM is not pushing in my blind spot....Well I can tell you the uprated brakes on the RS are just fine and dandy in the wet as can the BM who got very very very close...

He was flashing me despite now nowhere to go and having nearly taken out a good hundred yards if I had not been in his path braking...a small thanks would be nice eh?

Oh well I moved over as the inside was going quicker anyway... he immediatly zoomed up to the next car in the queue so thats a bout 15ft he made and flashed his lights...he didn't budge atall, didn't expect him to he hadn't for me over the last 10 miles with me being polite to him So he starts the lane jumping dance...

flashy flashy flash went the 328BM...I think that is the first time I have ever wished to see somebody in the barriers...stupid dry weather antics in lashing storm rain...if I knew how to tap the rear wing to spin him I think I possibly would have...of course at 10mph not alot would of happend.

So I aplogise if you have problems with your BM's but I wished for somthing nasty to them...perhaps it came true, saw three Bm's broken down during the rest of the journey

Iguess if I had moved over I would of been stuck behind his crumpled remains smewhere...I should of moved on the first flash, but for the fact I'm not rude and won't be responding to rude gestures; which I see flashing of lights when it's clear it's a small glut. Not like 3am outside lane hogging...

Anyway, of for a smoke to calm down...Nearly walked over a car today as it rolled over the line on red...was hopping at him. Should of pretended to fall over. Need some spending money

[greg2302]

Saw some suicidal nutcase in Laguna this morning approaching the Bellshill Bypass from the M8 Westbound - rush hour, inside lane doing 50, outside lane doing 60, nowhere to go. This Laguna had been tailgating the guy in front for the last 15 miles, and eventually pulled in to the inside to take the slip road exit. There are two cars in the inside lane goign too slow for his liking, so he pulls back out, but hasn't got the power to get past them both before the off-slip. They're both turning off, so he ends up cutting into the slip road two-abreast with the front car. This slip road is a single lane and makes a 90 degree turn just after it leaves the Motorway ! Dunno hwat happened as I lost sight of them but wouldn't be surprised if soembody's motor got bent.

I see this kind of crap every single day, I used to get really annoyed but now I just count my blessings I've got sharp reactions, and excellent braking and acceleration to keep out of the way of these numpties. Although being tailgated still gets up my nose, particularly in heavy traffic, as the second I've got clear tarmac ahead of me it's foot down and the guy so desperate to get past is suddenly a speck in the distance...